Senior PR & Communications Manager

About Irvine Partners Irvine Partners is a leading creative communications agency operating across South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, the UK and Germany. We help brands build reputation, drive influence and create meaningful connections through strategic communications, creative storytelling, content and digital engagement. The Role A leading global music and entertainment platform is looking for a Senior PR & Communications Manager, South Africa to help shape how it shows up across culture, music, creators, youth audiences, consumer storytelling and corporate reputation. This role will co-lead communications for South Africa, one of the organisation's most important markets on the continent, while also supporting selected communications initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa. The ideal candidate is a sharp storyteller, culturally curious operator and strategic communications professional who can move seamlessly between earned media, creator-led storytelling, brand reputation, campaign execution and stakeholder engagement. You will work closely with regional communications leadership, as well as marketing, partnerships, social, legal, policy, product and agency teams, to translate business priorities into stories that resonate with audiences. What you'll do: Lead day-to-day PR and communications activity in South Africa across consumer, culture, music, creators, partnerships, product storytelling and reputation-building initiatives. Develop clear, compelling and culturally relevant narratives that help audiences understand the organisation's role, value and impact. Build communications plans that support key business priorities, product offerings and audience engagement initiatives, with a focus on lifestyle, convenience, youth culture, fandom and creator empowerment. Strengthen the organisation's presence across South African media, including entertainment, culture, lifestyle, business, technology and youth-focused platforms. Identify and develop stories that extend beyond traditional industry conversations, tapping into youth communities, emerging cultural movements, creators and regional moments that matter. Support priority regional campaigns by developing communications strategies, messaging frameworks, media plans, creator engagement approaches, briefing materials, timelines and reporting. Manage agency partners to ensure work is strategically sound, culturally relevant, timely and measurable. Build and maintain strong relationships with journalists, creators, influencers, cultural commentators and industry stakeholders. Support reputation management and issue preparedness by monitoring emerging narratives, identifying potential risks, developing FAQs and preparing briefing materials. Manage end-to-end operational workflows across multiple campaigns and stakeholders. Lead reporting processes and stakeholder updates to ensure visibility, alignment and accountability. Coordinate approval processes across internal teams and external partners. Maintain rigorous documentation, project tracking and campaign records. Measure and report on campaign performance, including coverage quality, sentiment, message pull-through, audience engagement, share of voice and key learnings. Who you are: You have 7+ years of experience in PR, communications, reputation management, entertainment, culture, consumer technology, lifestyle, media or brand communications. You have a strong understanding of the South African media and cultural landscape and maintain relationships across relevant media, creator and industry networks. You are an exceptional writer who can move easily between press materials, messaging frameworks, executive briefings, social-first content, Q&As and stakeholder communications. You know how to translate business objectives into compelling public narratives. You understand creator and influencer communications and know how to guide talent partnerships in an authentic way. You are highly organised and capable of managing multiple projects, stakeholders and deadlines simultaneously. You are comfortable managing agencies, approvals, reporting processes and cross-functional collaboration. You demonstrate sound judgement and understand when issues require escalation. You are curious about African music, youth culture, creators, fandoms and the broader creative economy. You thrive in fast-moving environments and remain calm and solutions-focused when priorities change. You are confident enough to challenge ideas, make recommendations and improve the quality of work around you. Nice to have: Experience working in music, entertainment, media, technology, digital platforms, consumer applications, the creator economy or youth culture. Experience in both agency and in-house communications environments. Experience supporting regional or multi-market communications programmes. Experience managing reputation-sensitive topics, including pricing, policy, platform trust, creator relations, misinformation or public criticism. Existing relationships across South African entertainment, culture, lifestyle, business and technology media. What success looks like: Success in this role means ensuring the organisation shows up in South Africa with stories that are culturally relevant, strategically impactful and aligned to broader business objectives. You will help build a brand that feels locally connected, valuable and trusted, while ensuring communications programmes are thoughtfully planned, effectively executed, rigorously measured and protected from avoidable reputational risk. You will be the person who can confidently answer: What is the story? Who is the audience? What is the opportunity? What is the risk? How do we bring it to market? And how will we measure success?